Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Thinking about a Kimber, yea or nay

Looking forward to pictures!

I've had five Montana's and only ever had issues with one, a 7mm-08 that shot patterns not groups. I sent it back to Kimber and rather than fixing it they offered any other rifle as a replacement so I chose a .223 Montana. I still have it and a .300 WSM. The one I regret selling most is a Kimber 84M .338 Federal in a Montana stock. It was either coated in Cerakote or Black Ice, can't remember which, but it was a great rifle and I never should've let it go.

Nice rifle bud! Hope she shoots as good as she looks

We are going to find out, have 140 and 120 TTSX, 140 ballistic tips, 140 tipped Bear claws, 140 partitions to try.

Hanco--that looks sweet.

+1

Beautiful rifle!


Clackamas or Colton?

Danged nice rifle Hanco!

Colton, hope to get it in my hands Friday

Man that is faintsie Hanco!

I hate them so much I bought another tonight......

Wellllllll…. Whaddddja get!

Only have 9 of them. I must not like them.

I got the 280 from td4570 yesterday, doesn’t have a mark on it. I got to check with the Talley boys, find a pair of bases. I have a set of split rings and a 4.5x14 Leupold scope. I know the Leupold’s ain’t worth a big cshit but I like them. I’d take more pics, but we have company coming, I’m cleaning house today, Yee haw!!

Thanks for selling me the rifle Dave

It was nice of Wifey to buy it for my birthday.

If you're happy we're happy.

Yea...I have had a few Kimbers over the past 11 years. They are hunting rifles, not benchrest rifles, and to be honest, 1.5" vs 0.75" groups at 100 yards is not going to mean much in the vast majority of big game hunting situations. A brief rundown of my Kimbers....

Kimber Montana 308 Winchester- First one I bought. I’ve hunted the heck out of this rifle. Moose, bears (brown and black), sheep, caribou, small game. This would be the last of my Kimbers to give up. Shortened the barrel to 18" to hunt suppressed. Wish I hadn't. Will likely rebarrel.
Kimber Montana 223 rem- I've shot this one more than any other. Shoots everything into tiny little groups. Fox, coyote, wolf, caribou, otter, wolverine, beaver, spruce grouse, etc., etc. Shortened the barrel to 18" to hunt suppressed. Wish I hadn't. Will likely rebarrel.
Kimber Classic Select 308 win- So pretty, I couldn't pass it up. It's my wife's gun now.
Kimber Montana 270- I've had two of these. The first one I traded to a friend for an outboard jet motor. He needed a light rifle; I needed a jet for a new flatbottom. Missed it so much, I bought another. An oldtimer gave me an ammo can full of over 1500 .277 bullets that I am still working through. I've shot more moose with these two rifles than the others, along with some caribou.
Kimber Montana 243- Bought off a younger friend who was having a baby and needed cash. This was a finicky rifle before I came across 90 grain ballistic tips and RL22. Now it's the most consistently accurate Kimber I own. Haven't shot much with this, although my friend did. I've shot some fur and a moose with it.
Kimber Montana 300 wsm- Plenty accurate with 175 LRXs. This is the "big gun" in my KM lineup, but haven't shot anything with it. The standard 270/308 do everything I need, and are very common in these parts, so just haven't used it much.
Kimber Varmint Pro 22-250- Incredibly accurate. Purchased off the same friend as the 243, then found out it used to be his grandfather's gun. Made him take it back, and told him to never sell it.
Kimber Varmint Pro in 223- This has been the one true lemon in regards to accuracy, and I have worked it over. Given its intent (being able to shoot otter in the head on the ice, pick off a coyote or fox at 300 yards, shoot beaver in the head from a boat, and pick off ground squirrels from a couple hundred yards), it has failed. I’ve checked and shortened the front action screw, ground the box magazine so it won’t bind, scrubbed the heck out of the barrel and in other cases let it foul, bedded the action, tried different powders/bullets, etc., etc. Irregardless, it won’t hold better than 1.5” which Kimber says is acceptable. In my view, this is perfectly acceptable for shooting at moose/caribou/etc, but not for this particular gun’s intent and purpose. I keep it around for the kids to shoot, and will rebarrel it eventually. I pull it from the safe once in a while to try a different load, but still haven’t found one that will work. Perhaps one of you out there with the same rifle know of the silver bullet with this specific model.
Kimber Montana 338 win mag- I shortened the barrel to 23”. It was a good shooter, and held four in the magazine. It just didn’t fit right in my hand. I sold to a friend who is an outfitter, is infatuated with 338s (rightly so as they work), and have never missed it.

So…there you go. A longwinded answer to your question of yea or nay on a Kimber. I love them for what they are, and see more and more in these parts as time goes on, which is proof of their abilities as a hunting rifle. They have their quirks (or maybe I should say the shooter often does given poor technique with a light rifle), but for what they are, they are worth every penny. I would say go for it!

So whats yer' bottom line on Kimbers?

I won't go into details but have a 308 that is my primary rifle, like you, it will be the last t go. The reason I mention it? It struggles to keep 5 shots inside of 1.25" these days. I've shot lots of sub-MOA 3-shot groups - or innanet groups as I call them. But day in/day out, its a 1.25" gun and 1.5" gun on some days.

You are also spot on when you say these are hunting guns, not benchrest guns. I'll never frown at better groups be they 1.5" to some measured in the 'tens'. I like accurate rifles as much as the next guy.

Where I've morphed in my old age is in a couple areas. First, I need a rifle to hit where I'm pointing it. There is way more to this then shooting nice tiny groups from the bench. I've yet to shoot a critter from a bench, maybe some day but not yet. I gain alot of confidence in an accurate rifle from field positions. I get the argument that a 1.5" rifle off the bench won't shooter better groups from field positions - and agree. If I'm being honest, the game I've missed is not because my gun was a 1.5" gun from the bench. It was either shooter error or "stuff" in the way, more of the former than later. Plus, I keep everything inside 400 yards, unless its wounded.

Second, I want a lightish weight rifle. I have 3 primary guns I hunt with, all Kimber, all syn/SS. The heaviest weighs right at 7 lbs. I know me and I shoot a 6.5 to 7 lb rifle better than anything under 6 - from field positions. I'm sure I'm a woos because I don't want to carry an 8+lb rifle up the side of a mountain, or to my treestand 300 yards away. I'm getting old and decrepit.

Third, I don't want alot of recoil. The tradeoff with a lightweight rifle is increased recoil. I hate muzzle brakes and won't use one for hunting. With today's bullets, I don't need a 300 win Mag to kill an elk. I've shot a few with 300 mags and they all seem to die about the same with a 308, 270, 30-06 - at least for me. I bought one of the first Kimber Montana in 300 WSM when they came out. Elk rifle nirvana. Right? It weighed a shade less than 7lbs. A 180 Partition lit by a WLRM primer and 65 gr H4350 leaves the muzzle about 2950-2975. To me in my woosified state, it was too much of a good thing. Same thing with a Kimber 30-06 shooting 180s at 2800. My current elk killers are 308 with 150 etips at an honest 2900, 270 win with 129 LRX at 3075, 338 Fed with 185 TTSX at 2700. The 338 Fed recoils the most and is about like an 8 lb 30-06 - or very tolerable in other words.

I did get a bit long-winded but suffice to say the Kimber Montana is my rifle of choice for all of the above reasons.

I did. Feels good in my hands

Yes. Never again for me. Gave them 3 chances never worked out. Rather buy a Tikka t3 superlite save the money and buy a scope

When was this?